LB Van Ginkel hopes to bolster pass rush
MADISON – Andrew Van Ginkel’s first spring at Wisconsin served as an extended study session.
The junior-college transfer had to assimilate into a new locker room, learn a new defense and grow comfortable working with new coaches.
The 6-foot-4, 234-pound outside linebacker, who transferred to UW from Iowa Western Community College, didn’t stand out during UW’s 15 spring practices.
Van Ginkel immersed himself in the playbook during the early part of the summer and started to flash more playmaking ability in camp.
Given the track record of UW assistant coach Tim Tibesar, look for the top four outside linebackers to see the field in the opener Friday night
against visiting Utah State.
Fifth-year seniors Garret Dooley and Leon Jacobs are on the No. 1 defense. Van Ginkel and redshirt sophomore Zak Baun have been working with the No. 2 unit.
“Whatever my role will be ... and whenever my opportunity comes I am going to make sure I make the most of it,” said Van Ginkel, a native of Rock Valley, Iowa. “Just play my hardest, play my best and do whatever I can to help this team out.”
With T.J. Watt and Vince Biegel in the NFL, Tibesar is looking for players to make tackles behind the line of scrimmage. Watt and Biegel combined for 151⁄2 sacks and 211⁄2 tackles for a loss last season.
“Beat the tackle and get to the quarterback and cause havoc back there. Just be a playmaker,” Van Ginkel said.
“My pass-rush has gotten me to where I am.”
Van Ginkel, who favors long hair and speaks softly, played quarterback and defensive back in high school (Boyden-Hull/Rock Valley).
After redshirting in 2014 at South Dakota, a Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) program, Van Ginkel started 11 games at defensive end in ’15.
He recorded nine sacks and 181⁄2 tackles for a loss and was named Missouri Valley Football Conference freshman of the year.
After South Dakota’s coaching staff was revamped, Van Ginkel transferred to Iowa Western. He played well enough there to receive scholarship offers from Iowa, Nebraska, Colorado, Kansas State, Minnesota, Pittsburgh and Iowa State as well as UW.
“I think he is a really talented player,” UW coach Paul Chryst said. “And then the more you got to know him, I like him as a person. We felt like he was a guy that could be a great fit at Wisconsin. We could help him and he could make a positive impact. That is why we felt good about recruiting him.
“Since he has been here, it has been fun for me to see him get more comfortable with the players.”
Van Ginkel isn’t as demonstrative as bookends Watt and Biegel, but his work habits impressed his new teammates.
“He is a quiet dude and he loves to work,” inside linebacker T.J. Edwards said. “So I think that is something you respect right off the bat when you see a guy like that.”
Van Ginkel didn’t offer any predictions for the opener or his first season at UW.
All he would say is that he is comfortable with the defense and in his new surroundings and eager to return to the field and test his talent at the FBS level.